Trains carrying
oil or ethanol have derailed and caught fire at more than a dozen
locations across the United States and Canada in the last five years.

Train fires have
prompted a fierce debate about the risks of moving large volumes of
highly flammable liquids across the rail network and who should be
responsible for improving safety....

....investigations focus on why all the
safety systems were defeated at the same time, and what it reveals about
hidden flaws and risks in the systems.

In
the case of train fires, U.S. and Canadian accident investigators have
identified human error and broken rails as the main immediate causes of
derailments and collisions.

Once
accidents occurred, however, they were made worse by the tank cars’
failure to contain their hazardous loads. Leaking tank cars created
highly dangerous large pool fires. Design flaws proved to be a hidden
safety risk.

And oil
proved to be much more flammable than industry or regulators believed.
Under hazmat regulations, crude has been treated as a low-risk hazard
when it has behaved more like a medium or high risk one..... more here

The energy industry needs to do more to control the volatility of oil
and other fuels transported by the nation's railroads, according to
Sarah Feinberg, acting head of the Department of Transportation's (DOT)
Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).

Railroads have been pulling their weight in the effort to reduce the
number of derailments and other accidents, but FRA is "running out of
things that I think we can put on the railroads to do, and there have to
be other industries that have skin in the game," Feinberg told
reporters last week. She said she has been "calling on the energy
industry to do more for weeks, if not months. Quietly for months, much
more vocally for weeks." ...... more here

ST. PAUL -- State officials estimate that 326,170 Minnesotans live within
a half mile of railroad tracks that carry crude oil, a distance often
known as the danger zone.

People within a half mile of tracks usually will be evacuated if an oil train could explode or catch fire after a derailment.

The
estimate, released this morning after state officials could not answer a
Forum News Service question about the issue last week, is the first
time Minnesotans had an idea about the number of people that state
transportation and public safety officials say could be in danger of oil
train explosions like those seen elsewhere in the United States and
Canada.,,,, more here

..... city leaders who challenge railroads can be hamstrung by eminent
domain laws, federally pre-emptive regulations and other legal realities
that favor interstate commerce.

"This is their property through our cities, and they intend to use
it," noted hazardous materials consultant and rail safety advocate Fred
Millar. "The railroads are going to be very careful not to give away
anything that intrudes on their overall sovereignty."

In Crystal, Adams said he is not contesting the rail business or even
crude shipments. Instead, he's calling on federal transportation
regulators to require a full environmental assessment of BNSF's rail
spur, a step he expects will highlight safety problems posed by blocked
crossings. The Federal Railroad Safety Act of 1970 gives some leeway to
regulate railroads outside the federal level if "necessary to eliminate
or reduce an essentially local safety or security hazard."

Adams said his town likely couldn't dissuade BNSF from the project if the Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary pitched a legal battle.

"We know we're dealing with someone who's got more power than we
have, and we're just doing pretty much everything that we can," he said..... more here